The Golden Compass: What are Daemons?

In a world parallel to our own, there exists an orphan girl named Lyra who is destined to alter the course of the universe. Her realm, as well as ours, are just two of many that exist within intangible dimensions where humanity evolves with slight differences. Lyra is only 12, but she already knows that doing what you feel is right can be more important than doing what you're told. It's this rebellious spirit that will strengthen her as she becomes the central figure standing between the end of free will and the beginning of a new age. That's the foundation for the The Golden Compass, the forthcoming epic fantasy film from director Chris Weitz based on the first book in the His Dark Materials novel series by Philip Pullman.

Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) sets out on her mission when one of her friends is kidnapped by "the Gobblers," boogeymen believed to be responsible for the taking of numerous children who are never seen again. In reality, the kidnappers are members of the General Oblation Board. Headed up by the irresistibly charming-yet-sinister Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman), the group performs horrible experiments on children, their goal being the enforcement of conformity to the teachings of the oppressive Magisterium. Essentially, they want to do away with free will. Lyra's mission ultimately becomes an epic quest to save not only her world, but ours as well. That may seem a tall order for a tween girl, but Lyra is never alone on her journey. In other worlds the human soul resides inside the body, unseen and unheard. In Lyra's world all human souls take the form of animal companions called daemons (pronounced DEE-mons). A small, often-changing animal named Pantalaimon accompanies Lyra wherever she goes -- a lifelong companion.

Pan in ermine form in The Golden Compass

"Every person in Lyra's world has a daemon," director Chris Weitz explains. "It would be very strange for people to see someone without one. It'd be just as strange as seeing someone without a head. Someone without a daemon would be considered horribly mutated -- missing something essential.

"One important thing to establish about daemons is that they aren't just airy spirits," Weitz continues. "They occupy space, they have weight. They have mass and volume."

Pantalaimon changes forms frequently in The Golden Compass -- he appears as an ermine, a moth, and a mouse. These changes are common in daemons of children who have not yet begun to mature. "Until puberty, your daemon can change forms into whatever animal reflects your mood, or your inner feelings, or your intent at the time," Weitz says. "Once you become an adult your daemon settles. It's a physiological process by which the daemon becomes what you are inside. Someone really grand, and bold, and adventurous like Lord Asriel [played by Daniel Craig] has a snow leopard for a daemon. Someone more shy and retiring might have a mouse for a daemon, and someone who is used to obeying could have a cocker spaniel for a daemon."

Daemons come in animal forms of all kinds, even insects. Weitz says his favorite daemon is a really cool-looking praying mantis that belongs to a creepy background character in the film. "It's kind of fun, as a secondary pleasure while watching the movie, to see what the animators have done with the daemons," says the director.

Watch this exclusive daemons video featuring the cast and crew of The Golden Compass!

"It's pretty groovy, when it's all going at full tilt," enthuses Weitz. "Because after a while you kind of settle into the convention. We tried to integrate the daemons into the story as much as possible. We toyed a lot with how to depict them, and eventually came up with a rather simple way of doing it, which is that they are largely photorealistic except for the way that the light hits them. The way that the light hits the daemons is different from the way that light hits normal objects. There's kind of a rainbow thing that goes on. It's hard to describe, but definitely distinguishes daemons from any other animal or character around."

Given their light-reflecting and shape-shifting qualities, as well as the sheer number of them -- every human character has one -- the daemons presented the filmmakers with unique challenges. There was also the dilemma of how to properly translate them from book to screen.

"In the book you can just describe what a daemon is doing when he's actually doing something that matters," Weitz says. "The rest of the time he sort of sticks in the reader's imagination, and you don't have to say, 'At that moment, Pan was scratching his hind leg.' But if you're depicting it on screen, you always have to be thinking about what a daemon is doing. That's kind of a testament to just how literal film is. Our take on what daemons were doing while not saying something or taking a particular action is that they would be behaving in a way that betrays the inner state of their owner. They aren't mimicking the physical movements of their owner, but are actually doing their own things. This sometimes feels like what an animal would be doing, and other times it actually represents the real interest of the human character."

Mrs. Coulter's daemon, the Golden Monkey

"A daemon could be betraying the inner anger of a character," Weitz continues. "In the case of Mrs. Coulter, she appears very cool and controlled, but she has a monkey daemon who has this sense of rage and malice that can bubble up at any moment. That's a part of her character that never really comes to the surface."

While the vast majority of the daemons in The Golden Compass were created by animators at effects house Rhythm and Hues, Weitz hints that a few of them are actual animals. "It's a subtle little thing which we purposely don't explain," he says. "Characters that have been through the process known as severing have actual animals as daemons. You'll see them here and there -- although it's very hard to tell because the CG is so good."

Severing, Weitz explains, is the act of separating a human from his or her daemon. "When you're severed you're kind of out of it, and the relationship between you and your daemon is more like a master and a pet than with you and your soul," Weitz explains. "Every once in while you'll see someone with a dog, for instance, that's just hanging around doing what dogs do -- that's a severed person. To separate a person from their daemon is like separating someone from their soul. The bond between human and daemon is very, very close."

Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott) with Hester, his daemon

Keep your browser pointed to IGN in the coming weeks for more of our conversation with Chris Weitz about the mysteries and mythology of The Golden Compass.